It has been a week now since Mozilla Firefox version 89 landed on Philippine shores. Even though there is a new Firefox version every four (04) weeks, the last browser design overhaul happened years ago (around 2017 when “Photon” was introduced).
Codenamed “Proton”, the latest UI refresh made subtle adjustments to many interface elements of the browser, including its tabs, main menu, context menus, and modals -- designed to get users where they want to go even faster. For this version, the browser chrome has been simplified and the toolbar now comes with clear, streamlined menus.
Mozilla research found out that more than half of Firefox users have more than four (04) tabs open all the time (with some, like me, having a lot more). Tabs starting this version of Firefox are now gently curved and float above the toolbar to serve as a reminder that tabs aren’t stationary. Another cool new feature with this latest release is that tabs got a glow-up to be a touch brighter when active.
The non-profit organization also updated notifications and alerts of all kinds in Firefox to take up less space for less jarring interruptions with non-essential alerts and messages were removed altogether. Media autoplay is now turned off by default to avoid any interruption by a random video blasting unexpectedly.
Firefox 89 comes with next-level security and privacy by extending Total Cookie Protection to Private Browsing. As part of Mozilla’s mission to put its users’ privacy and security first in any technology that they develop, this feature was originally rolled out last February 2021 as new, extra-strong protection against cross-site tracking cookies.
Personally, one of the new features I loved about Firefox 89 is the updated prompts -- info bars, panels, and modals sporting cleaner design and clearer language.
Firefox for desktop, laptop, and mobile is currently available in more than ninety (90) languages including Tagalog. Volunteers from the Mozilla community in the Philippines are currently working on the localization of the browser to Cebuano and Hiligaynon.
Still not using Firefox? Go, give it a try this time.